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Wed 8 Nov, 2006 07:18 am
Woman Fatally Bitten by Snake During Church Service
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
LONDON, Ky. ?- A southeastern Kentucky woman was bitten by a snake during a church service and later died, a law enforcement officer said.
Linda Long, 48, of London died Sunday at University of Kentucky Medical Center, said Brad Mitchell, a detective with the Laurel County Sheriff's Office.
Long died about four hours after the bite was reported, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
Officials said Long attended East London Holiness Church. Neighbors of the church told the newspaper the church practices serpent handling.
Lt. Ed Sizemore of the Laurel County Sheriff's Office said friends went with Long to a local hospital Sunday afternoon, and she was taken to UK.
"She said she was bitten by a snake at her church," Sizemore said.
Handling reptiles as part of religious services is illegal in Kentucky. Snake handling is a misdemeanor and punishable by a $50 to $100 fine. Police said they had not received reports about snake handling at the church.
Snake handling is based on a passage in the Bible, in the Gospel of Mark, that says a sign of a true believer is the power to "take up serpents" without being harmed.
Church officials could not be reached for comment.
The funeral was scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Arthur's Chapel Church in Rosehill, Va., according to the Rosehill Funeral Home.
I still can not believe people actually DO THAT..
ug
These churches believe that handling, stepping on, and walking through a bunch of snakes is a show of their faith.
If they don't believe in god enough, they will get bitten.
Snakes get scared of people, feel pain, and will bite to protect themselves.
It has nothing to do with god. But they think so.
Many MANY people have gotten sick, and I am sure she isn't the first person to die from a snake bite due to some weirdo preacher screaming at them to test their faith or be "bad people" by walking through a pile of snakes.
It is a silly, and in my opinion STUPID practice.
People should not test their faith with a poisonous animal.
You either have faith or you don't. Period. Wether or not an animal bites you out of self defence is not a show of how christian you are.
but... that is just my opinion.
Don't you know? The snake wasn't a snake! It was the devil!
Phoenix32890 wrote:Ah, the stupidity that is perpetrated in the name of religion. Serves her right! 
There may be no excuse for stupidity. However, nobody
deserves to die for it.
I am surprised at your response.
Ironically, another example of natural selection at work.
This was a tragic and unnecessary death. The woman died four hours after the bite.
The snake was thought to be a timber rattlesnake. The one pictured is either very fat or gravid. It's a beautiful specimen nevertheless.
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It takes a snake know one. It shows that church is full of snakes.
Here's a pretty good depiction of the general mentality.
It would be so damned pathetic if it weren't so damned funny.
coluber2001 wrote:The snake was thought to be a timber rattlesnake.
It was a
rattlesnake? Oh, God.
Where in the Bible is it written that you have to walk through
rattlesnakes? How about a few garden snakes, or if you insist, black snakes. I don't see anything Biblical about rattlesnakes, (probably because they are a New World creature).
I don't think Mark 16:17-18 was very specific as to snake families, but was rather general in its assertion that, "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
Also, I think it would be rather difficult to get a Palestine Viper or some such serpent out in the hills of Kentucky.
Cripes! I coulda done without seeing that pic on the previous page.
My step mom got caught up in one of those holy roller type churches 15 years ago. Dad went to the church, beat up the preacher and dragged her out of there in the middle of a service.
I'm thinking that preacher would have preferred to have been snake bit.
InfraBlue wrote:
Also, I think it would be rather difficult to get a Palestine Viper or some such serpent out in the hills of Kentucky.
I agree. I just think that you can get bit by either a poisonous snake or a nonpoisonous snake, and if you are going to have your parishoners walk through snakes, it would be equally Biblical to make them the nonpoisonous variety as the poisonous ones.
In fact, most snakes are nonpoisonous. Of course, it still hurts when they bite you, so the faithful still have the chance to show that they were bit by a snake but it didn't hurt.
While I certainly don't agree with these people handling snakes to prove their faith, there are worse things done in the name of religion. These snake handlers are endangering only themselves, nobody is forced to believe as they do, or die if they don't.
Nobody deserves to die for believing in something.
I hear the pastor is now letting folks handle his trouser snake instead.
kelticwizard wrote:coluber2001 wrote:The snake was thought to be a timber rattlesnake.
It was a
rattlesnake? Oh, God.
Where in the Bible is it written that you have to walk through
rattlesnakes? How about a few garden snakes, or if you insist, black snakes. I don't see anything Biblical about rattlesnakes, (probably because they are a New World creature).
The Bible says "take up the serpent", I'm not sure He meant for people to handle snakes
in His name, however, rattlers are serpents.
Re: Another Reason I Don't Go to Church
cjhsa wrote:Snake handling is based on a passage in the Bible, in the Gospel of Mark, that says a sign of a true believer is the power to "take up serpents" without being harmed.
I guess she wasn't a "true believer".
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